A back-and-forth game that featured 11 ties and six lead changes between the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team and the visiting Northern Colorado Bears went the way of UNC on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 22) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. The Bears hung on to an 87-83 victory, dropping the Eagles to 10-8 overall and 4-3 in Big Sky Conference play while UNC improves to 10-8 and 5-1.
 
At the half, both teams were knotted up at 40-40. Eastern Washington trailed by as many as nine in the second half, but Steele Venters made a pair of free throws with 2:32 remaining to put the Eagles within three points, 79-76. Enter Rylan Bergersen, who drained a three-pointer with 1:49 to play to tie the game 79-79. Bergersen stepped up again, making a layup with 42 seconds left to give the Eagles an 81-80 lead. That would wind up being EWU's final lead of the night, as Ellis Magnuson hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game, 84-83, with 13 seconds on the clock. From there, the Eagles came up short as the Bears found the final three points of the contest to win 87-83.
 
Eastern could not shut down the Bears' hot-offense, as Northern Colorado shot 68.18 percent in the second half.
 
Venters (25 pts) and Bergersen (26 pts) combined for 51 of Eastern's 83 points and six of the team's nine three-pointers in tonight's game. Linton Acliese III and Angelo Allegri each added 10 points to round out the scoring. It marked Venters' eighth game this season with 20-or-more points, and the fourth in Big Sky play.
 
"It was back-and-forth, obviously a fun game to be a part of, but we didn't make the plays we needed to down the stretch. What stands out to me is our defense, we have to take a step up. We have to find a way to win these tough games and we're kind of stuck at a plateau right now where we aren't defending where we need to defend. We have to break through that," said head coach David Riley. "We talked about it in the locker room, we didn't lose that game in the final few minutes. Obviously, we could've made some plays at the end, but we you gave up 68 percent in the second half. We lost it by giving up some good plays. When we had a chance to go on runs and get good momentum, we let them back in the game and they stopped our runs. At the end of the day, those late ones hurt, but we have to do a better job throughout the course of the game and staying more consistent."  
 
After missing its first three field goal attempts, Eastern Washington found its groove and hit four-for-four from the field to take an early 10-9 lead. After the game moved into an 11-11 tie, the Bears took off on a 7-0 run to lead 16-11. The Eagles slowly chipped away, and five-straight points from Bergersen moved the game back into a 16-16 tie.
 
After falling behind 19-16, Bergersen gave the Eagles an edge after a three-point play and Angelo Allegri followed up with a layup to cap a 7-0 run for EWU for the 23-19 advantage. With 7:36 left to play in the half, a layup by Ethan Price gave Eastern the largest lead of the game by either side of six, 27-21. However, the Bears would respond quickly with a 6-0 run in 46 seconds for the contest's sixth tie. After EWU retook a 32-29 lead, Northern Colorado quickly drained three consecutive triples to put the lead back in its favor, 38-32.
 
Eastern stayed composed, and a triple by Allegri plus two free throws from Acliese tied the game for the eighth time, 40-40. The Eagles held the Bears scoreless for the final two minutes of play, and that's where the score would lie after the back-and-forth first half.
 
In all, the first half saw eight ties and four lead changes. Both Bergersen (12 pts) and Allegri (10 pts) reached double digits by the break, and the Eagles shot 44.1 percent (15-34) from the field compared to 50 percent (17-34) for the Bears.
 
Despite not making a field goal for nearly three minutes, the Bears held a 51-46 lead at the first media timeout of the second half. Northern Colorado then began to find some more separation with its largest lead of the game, 60-51. The Eagles got back within three, 62-59, after a 6-0 run, and then cut the lead down to two after Venters nailed a three-pointer.
 
Down the stretch, Magnuson hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-point contest, 71-70, but the Bears pulled back ahead by five with less than four minutes to play.
 
With 1:49 left in the game, Bergersen banked a three-pointer to tie the game, 79-79. The Bears drew a foul with 48.8 seconds left to play and made one of two. Bergersen then went down on the other end and made a contested layup to give the Eagles a one-point lead, only for the Bears to follow up with one of their own for an 82-81 advantage with 18 seconds left to play. Northern Colorado drew another foul and headed to line to make both, 84-81. Magnuson then headed down to the charity stripe and drained both as well, making it a one-point game, 84-83, with 13 seconds on the clock. After UNC made one more free throw attempt to lead by two with 11.7 left to play, the Eagles called timeout.  EWU's play fell short out of the break and an offensive foul was called, sending UNC to the line and to make two to hang on to the 87-83 victory.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Four players scored in double figures, led by Rylan Bergersen with 26 points for his fourth 20-point game of the season. Bergersen also ended with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. He was 6-of-19 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range, and 6-for-9 from the free throw line.
 
Steele Venters earned his eighth 20-plus point output of the season and the fourth of Big Sky play with a 25-point performance. He was 8-of-15 from the field, 4-for-7 from three-point range and a perfect 5-for-5 from the line.
 
Angelo Allegri led the team with eight rebounds and was 4-for-7 from the field with two triples to add 10 points. Linton Acliese III also added 10 points and five rebounds. Ethan Price scored four points, but led the team with two blocks, dished four assists, and had a steal. Ellis Magnuson scored six points, was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line, and added four assists.
 
KEY STATISTICS: On the night, Northern Colorado shot 57.1 percent overall (32-56) including a 15-for-22 (68.18%) in the second half. The Bears were 8-for-22 (36.4%) from three-point range and 15-for-19 (78.9%) at the charity stripe.
 
Eastern Washington was 28-for-61 (45.9%) from the field, 9-for-21 from three-point range (42.9%) and 18-for-22 (81.8%) from the free throw line.
 
Eastern was out-rebounded 31-to-28, but totaled a season-low nine turnovers while forcing 10. Northern Colorado scored 40 points in the paint to Eastern's 36. Thirteen of EWU's 28 field goals were assisted.
 
UP NEXT: It's a quick turnaround for the Eagles, as Eastern makes the trek to Pocatello, Idaho, on Monday, Jan. 24 to face Idaho State at 6 p.m. Pacific time. This was a rescheduled game that was originally set for Thursday, Jan. 13 but was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols on Eastern's team. The game will be on ESPN+ or Larry Weir has the call on 700-AM ESPN.